Are There Five Words That Can Make Us Happier?

Happiness baselines and flower drawings

Hi Friend,

I recently watched this video from Hannah Fry, where she talks about how there’s one sentence that can improve your happiness. Scientists have discovered that we all have a happiness baseline that we return to, regardless of the good and bad things that happen in our lives. There’s a study where they compared people who had just won the lottery and people who had just lost the ability to walk and found that in the beginning, there was a big gap in how those people felt, but over time, everyone returned to their baseline, and there wasn’t much difference in happiness in one group over the other.

Improving this baseline seems to be hard to do, however some say that if you repeat the sentence “These are the good days,” to yourself, it can have a positive effect on your happiness.

I have to admit, I was skeptical at first. I imagined how it might feel to say that in the face of an unimaginable loss. If someone tried to introduce this concept to me when I was in a bad place, it could easily come across as somewhat dismissive and pollyanna-ish.

But after trying it out, I came to the conclusion that it isn’t a directive to ignore suffering or deny your feelings. (Also, timing is everything, so one can use discretion if/when sharing with another person).

So far, it has helped me to ponder “what feels good right now?” and gently focus more on being grateful for where I am in that moment. It’s like a much nicer version of “things could be worse.” Also, the voice in my head has been very kind, unlike a certain inner critic who might make it sound like a command.

I can see how focusing on that several times a day could really improve how you feel overall. My boyfriend and I said it to each other while we had Covid, mostly to make each other laugh, but it did also help me find some small moments of gratitude during the discomfort.

At the risk of reversing what I just said about not being pollyanna-ish, I created this artwork with the phrase on a ribbon banner, surrounded by flowers, berries and leaves.

Tanya Madoff, These are the Good Days (2024)

Looking at it now, I’m inspired to create a more macabre and humorous companion version with skulls and creepy crawly creatures. I like the idea of embracing both sides of our strange and wonderful existence.

What do you think? Is saying this phrase to yourself something you’d try? Would love to hear your thoughts - let me know in the comments below!

Also a quick poll:

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Hope you’re having a lovely day.

xo

Tanya